Update May 13, 2015: Based on his debut on May 11, the answer to the question in the headline is “no.” The post below is unchanged from the original other than adding the May 11 numbers to the table…

Pete Rose makes his debut on Fox Sports 1 (FS1) tonight, first at 5pm ET/2pm PT for America’s Pregameand then for an hour-long edition of MLB Whiparound at 7pm ET.

We haven’t read what all media pundits have had to say on the subject, but the several that we have read all agree that Pete Rose is a good get for FS1. We agree. Most of them have suggested that Rose we’ll be good for FS1’s ratings. We’re not sure about that but we’ll find out when the numbers come out tomorrow.

Or will we?

It’s possible that the numbers will be high enough that there will be no question it’s the Pete Rose factor.

Below is the last few weeks of viewership the 5pm America’s Pregame, the 6pm NASCAR Race Hub and the 7pm MLB Whiparound (if you’re on a phone the table will probably be easier to read if you flip it to landscape mode).

Show

20-Apr

27-Apr

4-May

11-May

America’s Pregame

31,000

9,000

39,000

20,000

NASCAR Race Hub

157,000

87,000

100,000

114,000

MLB Whiparound

22,000

26,000

39,000

39,000

– A lot of FS1’s viewership numbers are so low that even Nielsen doesn’t put any stock in it. For discussion purposes, that 9,000 viewers on April 27 for America’s Pregamedoesn’t even average out to 2 people out of Nielsen’s national panel that includes over 57,000.

If America’s Pregame averages 50,000 viewers we won’t be surprised to see sports media blogs claiming Rose drove viewership up by more than 25% versus last week.

If that happens it certainly could be true Charlie Hustle deserves the credit, or maybe it’s just exactly the kind of random fluctuation you’d expect to see when so few people in the Nielsen panel are watching.

The only thing we’re certain of is that Rose has a very low bar to clear.